Cards On The Table
by AnotherEnglishBird
Summary: Jane has to learn that her actions always have a consequence, she must fight for mistakes and new beginnings.


Cards on the table

(Chapter 1- Mistakes and reasons)

Love is an emotion that has the overall potential to make or break you. Craft you into a person that reaches their up most potential, where you strive for your dreams, ambitions and unexplainable happiness for not only yourself, but your loved one too. When it doesn't work, the outcome is much different. Even true love can fail, depending on the uncontrollable events that come our way.

It was autumn in Boston. The maple trees were down to their last few leaves, the only memory of such littered the ground with flaming colours of yellows, oranges and reds. The single sound of boots crunching down on the leaves echoed through the air as the the woman made her decent down the reminiscent path, to a familiar house. Raising her hand to the door she once used to stride right through, she sighed, pressed the doorbell and waited for a response.

"Jane, come on in. She's been asking for the time every two minutes; think it's safe to say she's excited to see you." The tall middle-aged man ushered her in with a smile, whilst the sound of stomping feet filled the house.

"Momma! I missed you so much!" The little girl raised her arms for her mother to get the not so subtle hint.

"Baby girl!" She lifted the girl into her arms and breathed in that sent she missed so much before continuing. "My little princess, you have no idea how much I've missed you. You've gotten so big again, stop growing would you." Jane reluctantly placed her daughter back down after smothering her with overdue kisses.

"I will always be your little princess though right Momma?" The little girl questioned.

"Always!" Came the direct response followed by a loving smile.

"Hello Jane, you look well." The blonde woman finally arrived to greet her guest and be swept into the arms of her current partner, in an obvious attempt to mark his territory.

"Hey Maur', I'm doing okay." Jane attempted this trivial game of small talk before directing her attention back to the excited four year old currently attached to her leg. "So little princess, we all set?"

"Yeah Momma! I just need my bag and Mr snuggles." She began to clamber up the stairs to retrieve her must haves.

"Maya, walk don't run baby, you'll fall!" Maura's attempts to slow her toddler down clearly were a waste of breath given her current level of enthusiasm. The three adults shared a smile and light chuckle before the awkwardness of the situation kicked in once again. In lame attempt to lessen the atmosphere that was causing Jane to inwardly cringe she went over the plans for Maya's return.

"So, erm, Sunday at five right?"

Before Maura had chance to reply the 'beard' beside her spoke up.

"If you can Jane, we've got dinner plans with my folks." His impromptu reply forced Jane to bite her tongue and inwardly role her eyes, before glancing at her ex.

"Five would be great thank you Jane." Maura attempted to regain control of the situation, as her daughter came back down the stairs, backpack and stuffed rabbit in hand.

"Hey princess, let's hit the road and get out of your mommy and Toby's hair." She gave that signature smirk to her mother of her child and waited for the correction.

"It's still Tobias." The blonde haired intruder threw back at his girlfriend's former partner whilst Maura was distracted in saying her goodbyes to her daughter for the weekend.

"Tomato, tomarto hey Tim. See you soon Maur'." Before the man could respond the little girl was heading down the path followed by her smug mother.

"So baby girl, what did you want to do this weekend?" Jane questioned to her smiling daughter in the back seat of the car.

"Lots and lots of snuggles with my Momma and Mr snuggles of course!" She replied swiftly whilst holding up the tattered stuffed rabbit by its ear into her mother's rear view.

"Well that sounds perfect princess," she smiled at her daughter in the overhead mirror before continuing," but what else baby?"

"Erm, how about the aquwawium?" Maya replied unable to hide the delight in her eyes from the prospect.

"The aquarium hey? Something's never change do they little princess?" Jane's thoughts began to roll back four years.

_"So this is where you've been hiding." Jane sat her body down next to her wife on the oversized bench, illuminated by the overhead waters' reflection of the blue lights. _

_"It's just so peaceful here; the baby thinks so too. My stomach and balder is momentarily not him or hers play toys, it must be the calming influence. All the species live together in idealistic harmony. They move so freely, so open and care free. They are never truly alone." The doctor finished her explanation and turned her head to the detective currently mesmerized by the beauty she had just described._

_"Oh look there's Dory!" The dark headed woman pointed to a large group of blue fish with florescent yellow tails. Her wife began to laugh uncontrollably at Jane's attempt to regain some normality to the situation. _

_"It's bad enough you tricked me into watching that movie, claiming it was a documentary on the East Australian Current, but you now feel the need to mock me with it, just because there was a foreign object in my cornea a few times throughout the movie." Her serious voice no longer held up once she met her wife's eyes and their laughter merged together. _

_"In my defence, it did have the current thing in the movie! Along with loads of little bass'!" The signature Rizzoli smirk was plastered on her face, just waiting for the correction of their unique pet's species._

_"Bass is a tortoise Jane. We are not having this conversation again." She replied with a tormented look on her face. _

_"Maur', baby, look at Dory over there," she pauses to point at the school of fish, whilst her wife mumbles something about it being a 'Regal Tang', not a 'Dory'. " You once told me that, a lot of fish live in schools, and that doesn't depend on blood relation. They stay together for safety, familiarity, comfort and love, in their own way. Well that's how our school works. We have these amazing people around us that aren't obligated to be there, they are there by choice. And we are so strong, so united, as a distinction little family." The detective changes her position so she can wrap her arms around her wife and unborn child. "This baby will have so many people, they will never have to walk alone. We take our past and learn from it Maur', our little Dory will not live the same as we have and he or she is so blessed to have you making sure of that." _

_Drying her eyes from the stay tears, the doctor swivels round in her seat to meet the lips of her wife. "How do you always know what to say?"_

The jabbering of her now four year old daughter bought the detective back to present day and the constant realisation of change in her life. How could she complain? How could she resent Maura for moving on? It was her doing. Her mistake. She failed her wife, her child, her family. All the importance to her life that she was too blind to see. Maura had found happiness again, even though it hurt, so freaking much, that's all what Jane could ever want for her.

The detective glanced to her front passenger seat to the particular envelop that had been tearing her apart since the moment it fell through her letter box, three weeks ago. She had peeked at the title of the paperwork inside, it read 'The Divorce Proceedings of Dr M. Rizzoli and Det J. Rizzoli'. This outcome was inevitable, but in no way did it make it any easier for both the blonde and brunette, neither of which had managed to sign the paperwork yet. To do so would mean it was really over, something they both secretly had a hard time coming to terms with.

"Momma?" Without a reply from her mother who was currently again starring in to thin air, the toddler tried again against the sound of car horns which had stacked up behind her mother's. "Momma, the light is on green."

"Oh shit!" Placing her foot on the gas and heading down the busy street the detective realized her wording. "I mean dang it... yeah that's what I mean."

The raised eyebrow of the little dirty blonde haired girl caused Jane to nervous laugh.

"Okay, Momma said a naughty word; I'm sorry, just don't tell your Mommy!"

"You said not to keep secrets!" Maya responded much too like the detective for her own likening. "Mommy says naughty words too though! Only when I catch her having the sniffles."

"What do you mean baby?" The prospect of one upmanship on Maura in the 'naughty' word category was just too hard to resist.

"Well some nights, I can't sleep because I miss you too much," the little girl paused and Jane attempted to choke down the frog in her throat. "I go into yours and Mommy's room with Mr Snuggles, but Mommy is sad, she has tears. Then I tell her why I can't sleep and she says her too." _More reasons as too why you're an ass Rizzoli, great!_


End file.
